Bees in the United States are disappearing.. In the past half decade, 30% of the national bee population has vanished.

Bees have a lot things threatening their extinction, according to Brett Nolan, Ph.D. candidate at the Entomology Department at the University of Georgia.

“They have a lot to deal with. They have a lot of pesticides in the environment… ,” says research tech Nicholas Weaver, also from the Entomology Dept. at UGA.

“The [Varroa] mites are numero uno, number one in the honey bee loss,” adds Nolan.

These mites are highly resistant to insecticides, but handmade traps are one method UGA scientists are using to help prevent the mites.

Global research shows that both commercial and wild bees are responsible for an estimated 80% of all food crops in the United States. Athens-Clarke is one of at least 49 counties in Georgia working on saving the bee population from extinction.

By Alexander Contreras